Food, glorious food...

In the UAE, as in most other Muslim countries, the weekend differs from the rest of the world. We have our weekend on a Friday and Saturday and the working/school week from Sunday to Thursday. Friday is the holy day in the Muslim religion and are treated the way a Sunday would be treated in the Christian religion.



We as Christians in a Muslim country had to adapt and we do all our usual "Sunday-things" on a Friday. This includes going to church and spending the rest of the day with friends and family.


This past Friday I decided to do the traditional thing and cook a big "sunday meal", including roast leg of lamb, baked potatoes, veg, pudding, etc. I bought a butternut squash earlier this week and was looking forward to oven roasted pumpkin. As most fresh stuff is imported, butternut costs an absolute fortune and does not feature on our plates nearly as frequently as it did back in South Africa.



So maybe it was just because I haven't seen it in such a long time, that this orange pumpkin in this beautiful blue enamel oven dish looked so utterly delicious that I couldn't help photographing it like it was a piece of art...

I made a paste of garlic, honey, olive oil, some herbs and salt and coated the pumpkin in it. I then roasted it in the oven for about 45 minutes until soft and golden brown. Mmmmmmmm delicious!

(O, by the way, the table cloth is one that I bought years ago at Africa Nova, in Hout Bay, Cape Town. It is still one of my favourites.)

Reversable baby bibs

As I was sorting through the children's clothes this past week, in preparation for our yearly holidays to South Africa, I realised that Baby doesn't have one proper bib left. The ones that we acquired when she was born has all done their bit of mopping up drool and is not fit for use any longer. Now, as we are living in a place where a child can go without a shirt for most of the day, it didn't really bother me. But now we are going to mid-winter where she will be wearing several layers of clothing AND we will not do washing everyday as we do at home - so we need new bibs.



A while ago when we moved Baby into her own room I threw out the hooded baby towels and the receiving blankets which she wasn't using anymore. I knew at the time it can be recycled into something else, but didn't know exactly what. Now, I had the perfect project for it.



I found a pattern for reversible bibs (via Craftzine) on Made by Petchy's blog. (Check it out, she is very creative!). I had to make it a bit bigger as Baby is not so small anymore, but otherwise it worked perfectly. It has towelling on one side and fleece on the other side. It will hopefully be absorbent enough to keep the holiday clothes clean and dry.

Give-away!

If you are into vintage jewellery and other stuff, rush over to Ponder and Stitch and enter her first give-away! Now!

Colour inspiration

Summer in Dubai is dreary and dull. Unlike just about everywhere else on the planet, this is not the season to be outside. It is 40+C (104+ F) degrees outside, so inside (near the AC) is the place to be. Feeling a bit depressed by the bleak landscape and the heat, I decided to find something inspiring and colourful in my stash of craft goodies.

I don't usually buy fat quarters of other pieces of fabric without a specific project in mind, but this year I fell for the temptation of the fabric sales. (Must be the heat...) I still don't know what I am going to make with all of these, but in the meantime I will just enjoy planning all sorts of projects...

Here are some more colour inspiration from my floss boxes:

I wind the floss around paint swatch cards collected from the hardware store. It adds a bit more colour (and it's free.)

These are still waiting for my next trip to the hardware store...

And while we are on the colour theme, here is a sneak peek at a work in progress:

And another WIP:

I hope you enjoy your summer, wherever you are!